Transwestern Pushes East into NYC

NEW YORK CITY-Having built one regional office here for a Southwest-based real estate service firm, Patrick Robinson has been tapped to do it again. Houston-based Transwestern has opened a New York City office that will serve as the hub of its newly created Northeast region, hiring Robinson from Centric Real Estate Advisors to head up the new operation.

It’s a prime time to come into the market here, Robinson tells GlobeSt.com. Founder of the Staubach Co.’s New York City office in 1996, he acknowledges that the sector today constitutes “a very challenging market with a lot of high-quality, longtime, experienced competitors. But it’s also a huge market, and frankly there seems to be a great deal of turmoil in the brokerage community. It may be time for a newer company to come and take advantage of that dislocation.”

From an economic standpoint, Robinson says, “the markets seem to have stabilized, rebounding on both the leasing and investment side. So strategically it’s a good time, and probably a very good time to recruit brokers into a somewhat different platform.”    

In a release, Transwestern, which has also tapped Robinson’s Centric colleague Lindsay Ornstein, says it is actively recruiting additional professionals from the New York metro area. The Northeast region will focus on property management, agency leasing, tenant advisory sevices and investment management, says Transwestern.

Larry Heard, president and CEO of Transwestern, says in the release that his company believes New York City “will continue to set the tempo for the nation’s economic recovery, making it an ideal time for Transwestern to grow a Northeast presence.” He says Robinson’s track record of performance and leadership will enable Transwestern “to strategically develop our footprint” in the region.

A 23-year veteran of New York commercial real estate, Robinson agrees that recruiting “top quality professionals” is among his top priorities. He adds, however, “Our first priority is to service our current clients and any others that we develop in this market. So client service would be first, then comes growing this office, and not just in New York City but this entire region.”

Robinson’s own client base has focused on financial services firms, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, CRT, Kelso & Co., Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland. Before founding Staubach’s New York venture, which he ran for 10 years, Robinson was an equity partner at Jones Lang La Salle, where he performed on a wide variety of tenant representation assignments. He also acted as director of leasing for properties including Citicorp Center, 399 Park Ave., 320 Park Ave., 335 Madison Ave. and 220 E. 42nd St.

Ornstein, also a principal and founding member of boutique firm Centric, got her start in the industry at Staubach. She served as the director of marketing before moving over to the consulting and brokerage group.

Centric partner Gregg Lorberbaum tells GlobeSt.com he expects "big things out of Transwestern's New York office" with Robinson and Ornstein at the helm. He adds, however, "As compelling as it was to join Pat and Lindsay, I felt our client base would best be served by maintaining our tenant rep/project management philosophy that Pat and I brought to New York while at Staubach."  

With the opening of the New York operation, Transwestern now operates 28 corporate offices across the US. The new office also marks the establishment of its ninth regional platform.